Customer Reviews

Piano For Dummies

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have really enjoyed this course and got a lot out of it, especially in terms of working on rhythym and note reading.

Points to consider as you look at this piano course:

- It is my opinion that this course will work fine if you have an acoustic piano (with a laptop so you can have the course directly in front as you play). Connection to the computer is nice, but not essential. I found playing with the music provided extremely helpful though I was not connected. The best thing is being able to adjust so many things- tempo, which hand you're playing with, or the section of music that's being reviewed. Great!

- This may not be worth the purchase for anyone who knows music well from another source, like guitar or voice. A great deal of time is spent on the basics of note reading and rhythym that those with music experience will already know. Great for those with little to no music background.

- Songs and teaching style are quite traditional, so some people may not relate to it well. It's understandable to include universally recognized and musically simple pieces like "Jingle Bells" in a beginner's course, but I thought I'd bring it up. There are also some rather dumb jokes included that I think may turn some people off.

- I would buy or download extra beginner's sheet music in order to get more practice in these basics than the course provides.

- 150 lessons sounds like a lot, but it is basic and will take the user to an advanced beginner's or low intermediate level.

Well worth the money for most people.

I am having a blast learning how to pay my keyboard with this software. You can see your progress and that makes me want to practice more and set goals. I wish I had this software years ago.

For Christmas, I bought this to go along with the electronic keyboard we have. It was the smart move to do. It's very informative and it makes learning the keyboard seem like a breeze, not to mention a blast. The videos are a major plus and the program is very user friednly. It even includes showing guitar chords so anyone who plays guitar can play along. I have other titles by the 'For Dummies' series (including 'Guitar for Dummies'), so I knew I couldn't go wrong getting this one. The whole family is pleased with this one.

This is totally an amazing software!

It makes learning piano fun and interesting. The lessons make it completely easy to understand piano!
This is definitely worth the price. It works on Windows 7 as well! :)

Only two things:
1. Make sure that you buy a midi cable. One that connects the keyboard to the computer. Such as a USB Midi Cable Converter PC to a Music Keyboard. (Buying one of those is really inexpensive.)
2. Make sure that the keyboard you have is a midi keyboard. (Preferably about 61 keys or more will do it.)
USB MIDI Cable Converter PC to Music Keyboar)

Purchased for my 8 yr. old. He has music lessons at school in which he is learning to read music and I wanted to expand on that basis. Setup took 1 minute and was ready to go! I walked through the chapters and they appear to have a very well thought out sequence (Chapter 1 - BLACK KEYS, using 2 and 3 row keys), Chapter 2 (WHITE KEYS). It has a virtual keyboard on the computer screen (click of the button) when want to see the virtual KB play back the lesson (it highlights the KB and the notes on in the lesson). It also has a video tutorial (click of the button) for each lesson/section/page of the chapter. I learned things in the 1st chapter that I never knew about playing the piano.

Also, it has a great feedback feature (on/off option) that will score your playing and provide feedback as to what you did wrong.

I will post an update after he has completed a couple of chapters........

Thanks for reading.....

After receiving an organ as a gift I bought this. It's a great start especially if you have no musical background.
I personally do know how to read music but had no experience using both clefs and this program makes it very easy to understand.
I am now playing the organ and am really enjoying it!

I purchased this as a quick refresher for my new midi+ keyboard. It is very basic and the beginner should finish this course in no more than 2 weeks. Everything is in the key of c and only 2 octaves of range. No chords, no music theory. You can play simple melody lines in the key of c. Thats it. This is not any kind of music lesson for anyone who is really interested in improving piano skills. I would love to hear what would be a good serious adult oriented piano interactive piano course.

But this software's presentation is a bit dated. Using Windows 7 so not sure if this affects display and distortion with full screen view. Content wise, much better than the lessons that come with the keyboard. Worth the price.

I am just beginning to use the cd to learn to play the piano. I am impressed with it and so far it is much better than I thought it would be.

As usual , I am pleased with an order from Amazon!

M. Giannelli

Tried this product on three different computers, with windows7. Home Premium and Pro, didnt work with either version. Worked with Vista and XP but not with windows7.